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Postgame quotes.

Jonas Hiller:
I think everybody knew what today’s game was about. We had to win and we had to show a better effort than the last two games. That is what we did and why we won.

All the games were tight, besides the last two we lost. We showed in the first two games that if we play our game there, we always have a chance to win. That is all we can do in the next game. We’re going to try and you never know. Game 7’s are always special. There is a lot of experience in here.

Scott Niedermayer:

We knew we could be better than we were the last two games. There was no question about that. I think we were tonight.

We’ve been around the game a while. We know that we weren’t as good as we needed to be, and we needed to be better. That was our focus going into this game and it will stay the same going into the game in two days.

You try to eliminate your mistakes. You’re not going to eliminate all of them, but the fewer you make the better position you’re going to be in.

(On final seconds): There was a lot going on. I don’t know how it all started. The next thing you know, my gloves are off. That doesn’t happen too often. I took a couple shots. I didn’t even know who it was at first. I took a couple of punches to the face. I guess after a couple, I figured I’ll try a couple myself.

It’s exciting. What a great thrill to be playing a great hockey club like that in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

(On Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry line:) That line controlled the puck and was dangerous out there. They’ve been doing that all year for us.

(On being paired with Chris Pronger:) That’s what the coaches get paid to figure out. You go out there and do your best. They asked Chris and I to go out there, and it worked. You just go out when your called upon, go do your job.

We had an opportunity here tonight, and we took advantage of it.

(On not having a morning skate:) It’s maybe sometimes nice to change things up a bit. (Feel fresher as a result?) No, I don’t think so.

Randy Carlyle

Detroit has a very skilled hockey club and if you don’t stay close to your check, they are going to move the puck and move themselves. If there is a team that does it better, I’d like to know where it is. If you don’t stay close to your check, they can make you look awfully foolish. I thought we played fairly neat and tidy.

We had good backside pressure and we played more of the type of game that is going to be required. I think the most important part for us was the ability to be a little bit more patient with the puck in our end. It gave us better entry into their zone.

Dan Cleary

(On what went wrong): They were better than us tonight, that’s all. They realized the situation that they were in. They played hard and smart defensively. They played a good game.

(On Game 7): It’s going to be fun. It’s going to tight. It’s going to be two teams that know what’s at stake. We’ve played well all season for home ice. Now we have to take advantage of it.

(On having home ice advantage): I think both teams have proven that they can win on the road. We’ve also proven that we’re a good home team. It should be a good atmosphere. It’s something that where we have to come out and play well like we did in Game 5.

Nicklas Lidstrom

(On what went wrong): I think we got that goal late in the game. We needed a goal earlier, especially when they have a two-goal lead to put pressure on them. I think they were desperate tonight than we were. They came out stronger. We still had too many turnovers that created more time in our zone than we wanted to.

(On end-of-game altercations): I don’t really know what happened, but it’s been a battle for both sides and those things happen.

(On not being able to close out the series on the road): It’s disappointing that we had a chance to close the series out, but they’re a good team. They’re not going to give up and we saw that tonight. So we have to regroup and come back and be ready to come in Thursday night.

Mike Babcock

(On Ducks’ defense): I thought tonight they were more desperate at the start of the game. Probably even through 40 minutes. Desperation, it doesn’t have to be huge, but a little bit. You win more puck battles and more puck races. You deflect more people out of the slot. You can kind of sustain pressure. I thought that was the keys tonight. I didn’t think we had a real push until the third period and we were trailing 2-0.

(On third period): We were carrying the play. It’s usually a pretty fair game. You start on time and you compete the whole time and you’re desperate and you find a way to win on most occasions. If you start a bit late sometimes, you don’t get rewarded and tonight I thought that was the key for us. I thought that they were more desperate. They got some bounces, Hiller made some saves, but here we are, we’re going to get ready for a Game 7. It should be exciting. It’s been a good series thus far. I expect it to continue.

About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.